Proposed Collection; Comment Request

RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD

Proposed Collection; Comment Request

SUMMARY: In accordance with the requirement of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of

the Paperwork Reduction act of 1995 which provides opportunity for

public comment on new or revised data collections, the Railroad

Retirement Board (RRB) will publish periodic summaries of proposed data

collections.

Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed information

collection is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of

the agency, including whether the information has practical utility;

(b) the accuracy of the RRB's estimate of the burden of the collection

of the information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and

clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize

the burden related to the collection of information on respondents,

including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of

information technology.

Title and purpose of information collection: Statements of Claimed

Railroad Service and Earnings, OMB 3220-0025.

To qualify for unemployment or sickness benefits payable under

Section 2 of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA), a railroad

employee must have certain qualifying earnings in the applicable base

year. In addition, to qualify for extended or accelerated benefits

under Section 2 of the RUIA, a railroad employee who has exhausted his

or her rights to normal benefits must have at least 10 years of

railroad service (under certain conditions, military service may be

credited as months of railroad service). Accelerated benefits are

unemployment or sickness benefits that are payable to a railroad

employee before the regular July 1 beginning date of a benefit year if

an employee has 10 or more years of service and is not qualified for

benefits in the current benefit year.

During the RUIA claims review process, the RRB may determine that

unemployment or sickness benefits cannot be awarded because RRB records

show insufficient qualifying service and/or compensation. When this

occurs, the RRB allows the claimant the opportunity to provide

additional information if they believe that the RRB service and

compensation records are incorrect.

Depending on the circumstances, the RRP provides the following

form(s) to obtain information needed to determine if a claimant has

sufficient service or compensation to qualify for unemployment or

sickness benefits.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Annual Time Burden

Form No. responses (min.) (hours)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

UI-9..................................... 800 10 133

UI-23.................................... 600 5 50

UI-44.................................... 150 5 13

ID-4F.................................... 25 5 2

ID-4U.................................... 150 5 13

ID-4X.................................... 100 5 8

ID-4Y.................................... 25 5 2

ID-20-1.................................. 50 5 4

ID-20-2.................................. 100 5 8

ID-20-4.................................. 10 5 1

------------------------------

Total................................ 2,010 ....... 234

------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 6814]]

Minor non-burden impacting editorial changes which include the

addition of language required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

are being proposed to all of the above forms. Completion of the forms

is required to obtain a benefit. One response is required of each

respondent.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OR COMMENTS: To request more information or to

obtain a copy of the information collection justification, forms, and/

or supporting material, please call the RRB Clearance Officer at (312)

751-3363. Comments regarding the information collection should be

addressed to Ronald J. Hodapp, Railroad Retirement Board, 844 N. Rush

Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611-2092. Written comments should be

received within 60 days of this notice.

Chuck Mierzwa,

Clearance Officer.

[FR Doc. 97-3560 Filed 2-12-97; 8:45 am]

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